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The Strategic Partnership betweenSouth Korea and the United Arab Emirates*

Gney Kore ve Birleik Arap EmirlikleriArasndaki Stratejik Ortaklk

Niu SONGAbstract

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) established a strategicpartnership with South Korea in December 2009 with the import ofnuclear power stations as an opportunity, that is, civilian nuclearenergy cooperation as a precursor while taking into account other civileconomic cooperation fields, such as oil and gas development; andthen stretched to military exchange, import of weapons and fighting

together against piracy. Its long-term goals also include cultural basedhealthy cooperation. The strategic partnership between South Koreaand the UAE is an important part of South Koreas Middle Eaststrategy and UAEs looking eastward policy. A more crucial task isto implement the bilateral agreements with quality and quantity in thenext few years, to promote the relations not only between South Koreaand the UAE, but also between East Asia and the Middle East.

* This research is the product of the Research program of Key Research Institutes inUniversities established by Chinese Ministry of Education Study on GCCs BigPower Diplomatic Strategy (10JJDGJW022), China Postdoctoral Science Foundationfunded project (2012M520795), Shanghai International Studies Universitys AcademicInnovation Team program (Big Powers Middle East Security Strategies Since 1991)and 211 program. Dr., Associate professor of the Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai InternationalStudies University and post-doctoral fellow of School of International Relations andPublic Affairs, Fudan University. E-mail: [email protected].

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Key Words: Akh Units; Nuclear; Oil and Gas; Somalia Pirates;South Korea; Strategic Partnership; UAE.

z

Birleik Arap Emirlikleri (BAE) 2009 Aralk aynda nkleersantral teknolojisi ithalatna ilikin Gney Kore ile stratejik birortaklk kurdu. Bu ortaklk sivil nkleer enerji alanndaki i birliinin

ve petrol ve gaz gelitiricilii gibi sivil alandaki dier ekonomikortaklklarn ncs konumunda olmutur. Bu ortaklk daha sonrasilah ithalat ve deniz korsanlna kar ortak mcadele gibi askeralanlara da genilemitir. Bu ekilde uzun vadeli hedeflerin olduuortaklklar kltrel temelli salkl i birliine dayanmaktadr. GneyKore ve Birleik Arap Emirlikleri arasndaki stratejik ortaklk GneyKorenin Orta Dou stratejisinin nemli bir paras olmakla birlikte,BAEnin douya ynelme politikasnn da nemli bir unsurudur.nmzdeki yllarda sadece Gney Kore ve BAE arasnda deil, ayn

zamanda Dou Asya ve Orta Dou arasndaki ilikileri gelitirmek iinikili anlamalarn hem niteliksel hem de niceliksel adan srdrlmesien ok nem atfedilmesi gereken konularn banda gelmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Akh Birimleri, Nkleer, Petrol ve Gaz,Somalili Korsanlar, Gney Kore, Stratejik Ortaklk, BAE.

Introduction

South Koreas Middle East diplomacy started with the KoreanWar. After experiencing changes in its own international situation andforeign policy, South Korea has established diplomatic relations withall the Middle Eastern countries besides Syria and Palestine, and alsoestablished diplomatic ties with Palestine. The Middle East diplomaticchannels of South Korea include economic diplomacy (including civiland military economy and trade exchanges) and internationalcontribution diplomacy (including development assistance andinternational peacekeeping and other political and military activities).

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The specific ways of the Middle Eastern diplomacy of SouthKorea include:

International organization diplomacy that involvescooperation with Saudi Arabia and Turkey within the framework of theG20, and with Turkey and Israel within the framework ofOrganization of Economic and Cultural Development (OECD), withthe United Arab Emirates within the framework of the Global GreenGrowth Institute (GGGI),

Bilateral diplomacy that involves cooperation with MiddleEastern countries through Middle East & Africa Society, Korea-Middle East Association, Korea-Arab Society and otherorganizations in Korea under the framework of the Middle EastCooperation Forum (KMECF),

Religious and cultural diplomacy that plays important role inthe Arab-Islamic world and the South Korean Christians role in theIsraeli diplomacy, and the Korean traditional culture as soft power in

the Middle East diplomacy. South Korea focuses on following areas inits Middle East diplomacy: oil and gas resource development, as it is inthe Gulf countries; food exports to Arab countries; cooperation in thehigh-tech area, e.g., with Israel,

Nuclear power plant construction, e.g., with Turkey and theUnited Arab Emirates,

Security and counter-terrorism, as in sending peacekeepingtroops to Iraq and Afghanistan and a naval fleet to the Somali on

waters.Overall, the Middle East diplomatic strategy of South Korea issubordinate to the United States strategy. The relationships betweenSouth Korea and Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya, and otherMiddle Eastern powers have been under the pressure of the US.However, South Koreas independent Middle East diplomacy hasappeared in UAE, which has chosen the emerging international power-South Korea- to lift Saudi Arabias control in the region and takenprecautions against the US in terms of security requirements. South

Korea, for the first time built a strategic partnership with UAE without

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the US supervision. This strategic partnership originated in economicareas such as nuclear power plant projects, cooperation, anddevelopment of oil and gas exploration, and oil reserve bases in EastAsia. On this basis, the military field has been deepened constantly.South Korean Special Forces have been deployed in UAE, and theytrained armed forces in combating against Somali pirates.

The Origin of Strategic Partnership between South Korea

and the UAEThe strategic partnership between South Korea and the UAE has

been different from the general partnership. It mostly focuses onsecurity goals, but the first concrete part of this partnership is related tocivilian matters.

South Korea and the UAE have established a strategicpartnership on the nuclear power plant construction. From the point ofthe UAE, energy security and power shortage have top priority. Evenduring the traditional oil and gas energy exploitation, Abu Dhabi

attached great importance to ecological and environmental protectionbuilding, which has experienced pre energy, old energy and newenergy periods as three stages, and has made remarkableachievements.1 In the present era, the most clean and stable powersupply comes from nuclear power, and nuclear power plantconstruction is known as the UAEs own choice.

As the UAE is a country which has a close relationship with theUnited States, its nuclear power plans may overcome the distrust of theinternational community and may set it apart from the nuclear issue ofIran. In this case, the nuclear power companies of the West and theirallies as the contractors of nuclear power plants have been preferred bythe UAE. Based on its size and previous experiences of its nationalnuclear power plants, South Korea needed to consider nuclear power

1 Che Xiaomei and Niu Ming, Energy Development and Ecological EnvironmentalProtection in Abu Dhabi,Arab World Studies, Vol. 28, No. 6, November 2009.

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plant construction as its new economic growth point. On the otherhand, international community still has some worries about the UAE.The first one is whether it can impose a stringent export control regimefor dual-use technologies, and the second one is the difficulty offinding the capable workforce for the UAE. In December 2009, theSouth Korean consortium headed by the Korea Electric PowerCorporation (KEPCO) won the $20 billion contract. South Koreangovernment has invested heavily in the bidding process and provided

strong governmental support to KEPCO in anticipation of its firstnuclear export.2

However, international society raises doubts as to the UAEs.The first one is the attentions on the ability of strict export control overthe dual-use technology, and the second one is whether to find thenecessary labor. In short, the UAE has become the first Arabiancountry utilizing civilian nuclear power from South Korea. Clearly, thereactor is one of the critical steps during the construction of a nuclearpower plant. The KEPCO signed a contract worth $3.9 billion withDoosan Heavy Industries and authorized Doosan to build the UAEsfour main nuclear reactors, and the UAE Nuclear Energy Corporationawarded recognition. Not only that, the UAE has authorized theKEPCO to distribute related engineering branches to other partnerssuch as Samsung and Hyundai Group. In April 2010, the UAEofficially determined to build its first nuclear power plant in Braka.The first unit Braka-1 is slated to operate in 2017, with its three sisterplants following at one-year intervals.3 To further consolidate anddevelop the strategic partnership between the two countries, the UAE-Korean Business Council was launched on May 27, 2010 and GeneralSheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Princeand Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces,expressed his hope that the council will achieve the goals of the two

2 Danny Burkli, UAE to be the First Arab State to Use Civilian Nuclear Power,Hrriyet Daily News, March 7, 2011.3 T. Ramavarman, Doosan Wins UAEs N-power Contract,Khaleej Times, July 3, 2010.

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countries and enhance the sustainable economic development in twocountries. The President of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, alsoexpressed his hope that the strategic cooperation between the UAE andKorea would cover a long lasting partnership in all business aspectsincluding the nuclear power field. The aim of the UAE-KoreanBusiness Council is to support executives in both countries with all thefuture business fields of cooperation.4

Sheikh Mohammad also visited Doosan Heavy Industries andthe nuclear reactors. During the nuclear power plant construction, theSouth Korean government committed to train the UAE technicalpersonnel. From July to August 2010, forty-eight UAE students fromthe Institute of Applied Technology (IAT) as well as KhalifaUniversity of Science, Technology and Research finished a month-long training session on nuclear facilities. Many of those students willbecome the main operators of the UAE nuclear reactors in the future.We plan to hold a training session like this every year, KEPCOspokesperson Kim Hye-lim said. As of September 2011, KEPCO andIAT also decided to open a specialized three-year course in order totrain skilled staff who will play a crucial role in operating the UAEnuclear reactors once they have finished the course.5

As the nuclear power plant construction is not an easy process,the closest economic cooperation of South Korea and the UAE is stillin oil and gas fields. The UAE is ranked as the second largest oilexporter to South Korea, while oil is the major export product of theUAE. Therefore, there is an interaction between the UAE and South

Korea regarding oil. These two countries began discussions on theconstruction of the UAEs oil reserve base in 2009, and taking theestablished strategic partnership as the basis, the Abu Dhabi NationalOil Company (ADNOC) and the Korean National Oil Corporationsigned a Memorandum of Understanding on oil reserves and oil

4 Mohammad Attends Launch of UAE-Korea Council, Gulf News, March 28, 2010.5 Kim Tae-gyu, Korea-UAE Nuclear Tie-up Strengthened,Korea Times, August 12, 2010.

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development cooperation on August 2, 2010. The UAE aimed toexport oil to Northeast Asia by a more economical and convenientway, while South Korea is expected to establish its oil port inNortheast Asia. The two sides negotiated that the current size of thereserve base is 200 million barrels and its capacity would expand withthe improvement of the infrastructure. The memorandum opened theway for Koreas access to the oil reserves of the UAE. The KoreanNational Oil Corporation and ADNOC will form a joint evaluation

group to investigate oil and gas fields in Abu Dhabi. South Korea willbe mainly involved in deep-sea oil field development.6 Compared tothe oil industry, the UAEs natural gas exploration industry isrelatively slow. The UAE, in April 2009 granted a project measured$1.5 billion from the total value of $10 billion natural gas project toSouth Korea. In November 2010, South Koreas Samsung EngineeringCompany signed an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Gas DevelopmentCompany on a project, which would be in the area 180 km. southwestfrom Abu Dhabi Shah Region, and the expected commissioning time

of the project is August 2013.7At the same time, South Korea and the UAE have continued to

discuss their specific consultation on nuclear power plant construction,which is the priority of their bilateral strategic partnership. The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) will play a leading role insupporting the export of nuclear power technology by providingfinancial credits for local companies. Eximbank Chairman Kim Dong-soo said on February 9, 2010, We are taking part in UAE nuclearpower plant business. We will do our best to enable the UAE tobecome one of the top three powerhouses in the industry and we planto complete the design of a financing structure and the creation of a

6 Choi Hyun-cheol, UAE Chooses to Build Its Northeast Asian Oil Reserve Bases inSouth Korea,Jungang Ilbo (Chinese edition), August 3, 2010.7 Samsung Engineering Signs UAE Shah Gas Project http://www.samsungengineering.co.kr/eng/company/PressReleasesView.jsp?onPage=1&tb2_seq=303&category=14 (Access date: 23 March 2012).

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lenders group in the first quarter in cooperation with UAEs NuclearEnergy Corporation.8 It is said that in October 2010 South Korea wasexpected to lend about $10 billion for the UAEs first nuclear plants,more than doubling pledges it has already made that year to financeconstruction projects in the Middle East.9

The South Korean opposition parties also disagreed with KoreaEximbank, which pledged to loan half of the $18.6 billion that theUAE would repay over almost three decades. These issues promptedcritics to argue that South Korea signed a secret deal with the UAE,promising overly favorable terms.10 This reflects the importance thatSouth Korea attached to the UAE project. The Chairman of the UAEEnergy Company visited South Korea on March 10, 2011 and heldfurther discussions with Korea Eximbank on fund procurement. Inorder to consolidate the agreement, South Korean President LeeMyung-bak visited the UAE on March 3, 2011, uttered a speech asfollows: Nuclear power is an important source of energy that will playa critical role in the post-fossil fuel era. The true value of nuclearpower consists in its peaceful utilization, I expect that the horizon ofbilateral co-operation will continue to expand into other areas,including new and renewable energy, information and communicationstechnology, and finance.11 Lee Myung-bak also had an inspection ofthe site of the UAEs first nuclear reactor. In the first 11 months of2010, the trade volume between South Korea and the UAE reached$15.7 billion. The UAE is South Koreas largest export market in theregion.12 In the face of Japan 3/11 Fukushima nuclear power plantexplosion and serious nuclear leakage incident in 2011, President Lee

8 Kim Jae-won, Eximbank to Aid Export of Nuclear Power Plant, Korea Times,February 9, 2010.9 Ayesha Daya, South Korea Plans to Lend $ 10 Billion for U.A.E. Nuclear Plants,

Bloomberg, October 7, 2010.10 Nuclear Power Plant Exports Boost Korea Inc.,Korea Times, February 21, 2011.11 Gerry Doyle, S. Korea Leader Upbeat on Ties,The National, March 13, 2011.12Ibid.

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on March 14, 2011 clarified the need to eliminate the panic of the UAEgovernment and people. He said; the construction of nuclear powerplants reflects the growing economic ties between the UAE and Korea.We would take all possible measures to ensure their safety.13 OnMarch 15, 2011, the KEPCO decided to offer two nuclear power plantsimulators to UAE by 2015. The supply of the training simulatorsvalued at $23 million, which are designed to train plant operators,constitutes a part of the deal to build nuclear power plants in the

UAE.14

In addition to further implementing the nuclear power plantprojects, the two heads of governments of South Korea and the UAEsigned a memorandum of understanding on March 13, 2011 on theSouth Korean involvement in the oil exploration. The Korea NationalOil Corporation and the United Arab Emirates National Oil Companysigned an agreement on three oil fields which have at least 10 billionbarrels of oil reserves; not only that, the two sides also decided to have6 million barrels of crude oil storage in Abu Dhabi for South Koreaand to allow South Korea to purchase the first 300 thousand barrelsevery day in the future.15 In fact, South Korea and the UAE havenuclear power plant construction, and oil and gas production projectstogether to form a relationship based on mutual cooperation.

The Development of Strategic Partnership between SouthKorea and the UAE

Compared with nuclear power plant construction, the resourcesexploitation, and other economic development projects, the strategic

partnership of South Korea and UAE has gradually moved beyond theoriginal agenda and extended to the military field. UAE requested

13 Na Jeong-ju, Lee Pledges to Ensure Safety of UAE Nuclear Plants,Korea Times,March 14, 2011.14 Nam Kwang-sik. KEPCO to Offer 2 Nuclear Power Simulators to UAE, Yonhap

News, March 15, 2011.15 Korea Signs Major Oil Deal with UAE, Chosun Ilbo, March 14, 2011.

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South Korea to send troops to the UAE as a historical opportunity afterSouth Korean led consortium was awarded to build nuclear powerplants.

Since the UAE has insufficient defense force, so when facing thepressure from the regional powers, especially Iran and internalopposition,the UAE needed to obtain new weapons to face unexpectedevents. The UAE in August 2009 intercepted the North Koreansillegal transport to Iran of weapons prohibited by international ships.The weapons include rocket-propelled grenades, while North Koreahas UN sanctions imposed upon it because of its nuclear test in June2009.16

Because Iran was also suspected of developing nuclear weapons,the exchange of weapons between North Korea and Iran causedinternational panic. Facing the threat of Iran, Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC) countries except Bahrain all have cooperated with Israel invarying degrees.17 Although South Korea had to participate in

sanctions against Iran because of Iran's nuclear issue with theinternational community, South Korea actually has had good relationswith Iran. North Korea is the largest security threat for South Korea, bythreat of mass destruction as well as the proliferation of nuclearweapons. It is critical for South Korea that the UAE would interceptNorth Korean ships transporting weapons. Since South Koreanweapons have the most direct relevance to North Korea and there hadbeen weapon cooperation between North Korea and Iran, thus theweapons procurement from South Korea has become a logical

investment for the UAE. The UAE has agreed to procure weaponsfrom South Korean companies as much as $560,000 (Dh2m) worth ofspecialized assault rifles. According to the developers, the K11 rifleconsists of a semi-automatic 20 mm grenade launcher, an underslung

16 UAE Seizes N Korea Arms Cargo,BBC News, August 28, 2009.17 Niu Song, Influence of Iranian factor on Relationship between Israeli and Countriesin Gulf Cooperation Council,Forum of World Economics & Politics, Vol. 30, No. 2,April 2010.

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assault carbine firing 5.56 mm NATO-standard rounds, and a top-mounted, computer-assisted sighting system with integrated laserrangefinder and thermal infrared night-vision capabilities. With thisorder, the UAE became the first foreign customer of South Korea forthe weapon. South Korea also planned to sell the T-50 Golden Eaglesupersonic trainer jet and the K2 Black Panther main battle tank to theUAE.18

In addition to importing of advanced weapons, the introductionof foreign armed forces stationed in the UAE has become an importantchoice. The UAE first had military cooperation with the US, VladimirAhmed Ali Air Base and Jebel Ali provided a strong support for theUS military operations in the Gulf region.19

Moreover, the UAE has also been actively promoting thediversification of foreign troops to eliminate its excessive pro-American image. Before asking South Korea to send troops, tencountries have already stationed troops in the UAE. For South Korea,

the troops deployed to the UAE have huge strategic interests, asCheong Wa Dae said: there are more than 3,000 soldiers from 10countries armies stationed in there, so it is not special for SouthKorean troops, like the UAE with less defense capacity, the mostpromising one is the military cooperation; they must favor thecountry which provides military support, because they are protectingthe Arab countries, so it is conducive to change the views of the UAEsneighbors on South Korea.20

Even more critical is that this had been precedent for South

Korean troops to go to areas not at war. South Korea had previouslysent troops to war-torn countries in the Middle East, such as Iraq andAfghanistan. Since the numbers of Korean hostages increased, the

18 Ivan Gale, UAE Buys Rifles from South Korea, The National, May 27, 2010.19 Sun Degang and Deng Haipeng, Analysis of the Adjustment of the US MilitaryBases in Gulf Region, Contemporary International Relations Vol. 31, No. 5, May 2010.20 Nam Gung-uk, Cheong Wa Dae Explains Actively with Its Aims to Send Troops toUAE,Jungang Ilbo (Chinese edition), August 6, 2010.

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South Korean government gradually withdrew its troops. As the SouthKorean participation in a large number of Afghan reconstructionprojects, South Korea has set up provincial reconstruction teamsconsisting of military, police, and professional and technical staff toprotect their interests in Afghanistan and the safety of their staff, whichprovided experience already for stationing troops in the UAE. TheSouth Korean Defense Ministry on December 12, 2010 said that theywould send military training cooperation group to UAE. Its task was

described as to assist educational training of the UAE SpecialOperations, joint training and practice, as well as to protect civilians inwar.21 The South Korean army held a farewell ceremony on January10, 2011 for troops heading to the UAE at a military training camp inGwangju, Gyeonggi Province. The Akh Unit consisted of 130 combatsoldiers with K11 rifles and other advanced weapons. The Akh Unitwas to be stationed in a special warfare school in the al-Ain region inthe UAE. As President Lee Myung-bak pointed out, the troopdeployment would also prove greatly helpful to South Korean efforts

to solidify its energy security and expand its trade base in the MiddleEast.22 The Akh Unit would be in the UAE at the end of December2012, shouldering the task of being a global strategic cooperationpartner. Besides that, Seo Jeong-min, a professor of Middle Eastpolitics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, said whilethe South Korean troops had valuable skills to pass on, they would alsobenefit from being in the UAE, gaining experience unavailable in theirhome country.23

Somali pirates hijacked South Korean Samho Jewelry cargo shipand 21 crewmembers on January 15, 2011. This emergency promotedthe strategic partnership between South Korea and the UAE. The

21 Jeong Yong-su, South Korea Army Special Warfare Command Will Dispatch 130Soldiers to UAE,Jungang Ilbo (Chinese edition), December 13, 2010.22 Deployment of South Korea Akh Unit to UAE,KBS, January 12, 2011.23 Daniel Bardsley, South Korea Elite Forces Arrive in UAE, The National, January12, 2011.

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Samho Jewelry is a Norwegian cargo ship whose actual owner is fromSouth Korea. It was hijacked during the way from Sri Lanka to theUAE. The kidnapped crew included eight South Koreans, elevenBurmese and two Indonesians. On January 21, 2011, a South Koreanescort ship launched attacks on the Somali pirates, and after hours offighting, there were eight pirates killed and five were captured.Although South Korea began to send convoy fleets to the waters offSomalia in 2009, it had avoided fierce fighting with Somali pirates,

such as Samho Dream which had been hijacked for 217 days wasreleased after the payment of a $9.5 million ransom, while SouthKorean ships suffered from violent attacks for a variety of reasons:first of them is the ending of the passiveness of Yeonpyeong Island.On November 23, 2010, North Korea fired against Yeonpyeong Islandand injured soldiers and civilians in South Korea, which intensified thedebate over domestic policy toward North Korea and doubt on SouthKoreas military capabilities. In this context, the use of force againstthe Somali pirates became South Koreas first military choice. Somali

pirates clearly are not as dangerous as the Korean Peoples Army(KPA), says Andrew Salmon, a Korean War historian and Seoul-based journalist. Many South Koreans would like to see a muscularresponse, but the risks are far greater against the KPA.24

Second one is that the South Korea needed to provide forcefulsecurity for the good relationship established after the realization of theUAE nuclear project and the station plan. The critical issue was how toescort the five captured Somali pirates back to Korea. The UAE royalfamily played a key role during this process. Since the Samho Dreamwas not able to get the Omans permission to enter the port, so theycould not send the pirates to South Korea by sea and there were somedifficulties in terms of money for sending them by air as well as somepractical problems. A South Korean Foreign Ministry official pointedout: The government originally planned to use civil or military

24 Danald Kirk, South Korea Delivers Setback to Somalia Pirates, and a Warning toNorth Korea, Christian Science Monitor, January 21, 2011.

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aircraft to escort the pirates, but it is difficult that the civil aircraft costsheavily and military one had to get permission by nine countriesaround. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak turned to the UAEroyal family, the Ambassador Kwon Tae-gyun visited seniormembers of the royal family on January 26, and less than an hour, afterSouth Korea made the request, the UAE royal family borrowed theprivate plane in response.25 It both improved the efficiency of escort,and did not cause a contradiction with other Islamic countries.

Finally, the Akh Unit, South Koreas special operation forces,provided security protection, so it was fair enough to select them toescort pirates in the UAE royal plane. The Akh Unit escorted fiveSomali pirates back to Korea on January 30, 2010, which promptedcloser military cooperation between the two countries. Although theUAE and Somali both belong to the Arab countries, several UAE shipsalso had been hijacked by Somali pirates. Besides, the hijacked shipsalso involved vessels, which had trade with the UAE, such as theSamho Jewelry. It actually affected the interests of the UAE. SouthKorean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan visited the UAE in earlyFebruary 2011 and met with his UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah binZayed al-Nahayan. Their topics were the strategic partnership, suchas in the areas of trade, politics, military, culture, health, andeducation. Kim said that, They agreed to further strengthen bilateralcooperation on the global stage, especially in fighting against pirates.Kim also asked for the UAE governments support for South Koreanfirms operating there, stressing their efforts to contribute to the UAEseconomic growth and enhanced bilateral relations.26

In January 2011, when Southern Sudan had successfully held itsreferendum and finally chose to be independent, which might reshapethe geographical map of the Arab world, a Tunisian vendors uprising

25 Kim Su-jin, It is President Lees Idea to Escort Pirates with UAE Royal Plane,Jungang Ilbo (Chinese edition), January 31, 2011.26 S. Korea, UAE Agree to Bust Anti-piracy Efforts, Yonhap News, February 7,2011.

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triggered self-immolation, which had a more significant impact on thepolitical map of the Arab world. Tunisia and Egypt changedgovernments and their presidents resigned already. Besides, there hadbeen large-scale protests in Yemen, Libya and other Arab countries, asthe Middle East strongman rule in the era of globalization encounteredgreat challenges. The Arab Spring turmoil inevitably spread to theGulf Arab states; Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia suffered anti-government demonstrations. As the UAE government took a high-

welfare policy, and there was almost no serious sectarian conflict inUAE, so now people there had no sign to oppose the government.However, the UAE government has also been aware of unequalincome distribution, especially the importance of regional incomedistributions for stability of the country. The UAE governmentannounced in early March 2011 that they would spend $1.6 billion toimprove the infrastructure in the less developed regions of thecountry.27

The role of theAhkUnit in UAE is important for upgrading thesense of security of the South Korean nationals in the UAE, and theUAE also needed the assistance of foreign armed forces includingSouth Korea in response to the security situation in the long term. OnMarch 12, 2011, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited theAkh Unit, which protects 5.500 Korean nationals, and he pointed outthat: The UAE is a special country (for South Korea). South Koreaand the UAE can be viewed as having friendly relations, each of youshould play a role as ambassador.28 Moreover, the sudden change inLibya and the common attitude of South Korea and the UAE forGaddafi promoted the development of a bilateral strategic partnership.The South Korean Cheonghae Unit had been sent to Libya forevacuation of South Korean nationals on February 24, 2011. Since theSpy event had caused a chasm between the Gaddafi regime and South

27 UAE Stable Despite Regional Turmoil,Reuters, March 8, 2011.28 Lee Chi-dong, Lee Says S. Korean Troops in UAE Crucial for Bilateral Ties,Yonhap News, March 13, 2011.

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Korea, a port in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi provided a temporarystop for the units change of staff. Joint Chiefs of Staff ChairmanGeneral Han Min-koo met with and encouraged soldiers of theCheonghae Unit in the UAE on April 27, 2011.29

The Reasons for the Strategic Cooperation-Partnership

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between SouthKorea and the UAE in June 1980, their bilateral relations have

developed in a stable and long-standing trend. In the 21st century,besides trades in the oil field, South Korea also has contracted to builda large number of desalination facilities constructions, and majorprojects such as Burj Dubai, and has exported a large number of homeappliances to the UAE. The South Koreans even showed their interestson an Islamic finance introduction after the financial crisis in Dubai. Itwas because of long-term economic cooperation and mutualunderstanding between South Korea and the UAE that the twocountries have taken nuclear power plants as an opportunity to

establish a formally strategic partnership. Deepening and developingthe relationship between South Korea and the UAE has been closelyrelated with the international strategy on both sides.

First, the UAEs strategic choice is an important part of the Arabworlds Looking Eastward policy. During the Cold War, the Arabworld countries foreign policy had been towards the United States andWestern Europe, or Russia; since the end of the Cold War, the LookWest policy became the mainstream of the Arab world; entering intothe 21st century, its Looking Eastward policy is increasingly clear.

In recent years, the Looking Eastward tendencies of Arab countriesbecame increasingly clear. The East includes not only the Asia-Pacificcountries such as China, Japan, Korea, and Australia, but also Indiaand other Asian developing countries, as well as Brazil and otheremerging Non-Asian economies.30 In fact, the Arab countries,

29 Song Sang-ho, JCS Chairman Visits Overseas S. Korea Troops,Korea Herald, April 28, 2011.30 An Huihou, Analysis of Arab States Looking Eastward Policy, Arab World

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especially the Gulf monarchies have had a more complex attitudetoward the US. There has been cooperation as well as contradictionswith the US. They have hoped that the US would provide securitywhile developing the relationships involving military development andall areas with the non-Western emerging countries including SouthKorea.

Although Saudi Arabia is the core of the GCC, but the UAEsstatus should not be overlooked: In the past 10 years, the UAE hasbecome the pioneer and innovation center of GCC; Dubai hasquickly become the economic center of the region, but the subsequentdevelopment is more exciting: it will shine on the global stage; theUAE has three major advantages: economic restructure, open for thebusiness and healthy competition.31 It is because of the UAEs vitalityin free competition and their openness to the world that South Koreawith its strong economic strength and high-tech industries has becomea key UAE consideration during the process of Looking Eastward.

Although South Korea is an ally of the United States, after the1973 oil crisis, it has taken a balanced attitude towards Palestinians andIsraelis, which in fact is a part of its pro-Arab Middle East policy. It isthe solid foundation that South Korea successfully establisheddiplomatic relations with the UAE. After reaching an understanding onthe use of civilian nuclear energy with the US, the UAE has takenconstruction of nuclear power plants as a long-run national developingstrategy after the depletion of other energy resources. It is obvious tothe UAE that South Korea has high-quality engineering projects and

solid financial backing as well as great support of the South Koreangovernment. Thirty year-long friendly exchanges and the importantrole of the nuclear power plant have established a close linkagebetween their strategic partnership and nuclear power plant project,

Studies, Vol. 30, No. 1, January 2011.31 A. Rehman,Dubai & Co.: Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States,Translated by Hu Weishan, Oriental Publisher, Beijing, 2009, pp. 68-76.

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while South Koreas companies have beaten the Western nuclearpower potential by its own excellent technology, favorable prices, andhigh-speed deliveries and have successfully exported the nuclearpower plants.

Second is the successful implementation of South KoreasMiddle East strategy. Since the independence of South Korea,especially in the 1970s, it has positively developed good relations withMiddle East countries. From the perspective of Middle Eastdiplomacy, South Korea has actually implemented a three-ringdiplomacy in the Middle East: the first ring for the entire Middle East,on which South Korea has established Korea Middle EastAssociation (KOMEA) and Korea Middle East Cooperation Forumand held several meetings; The second ring is for the dominant Arabcountries, on which South Korea has established the Korean-ArabFriendship Society (KOAFS) and the Korean-Arab Society (KAS);the third ring is for the oil-rich Gulf Arab states, especially for themembers of the GCC. South Korea and the GCC have been negotiatingto establish a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Therefore, the UAE hasbecome the top priority for South Korean Middle East diplomacy.

Moreover, South Korea had been proper understandings ofinternational relations in the Middle East and had taken appropriateresponses. There have been three different but related internationalsystems in the international relations of Middle East: the Westphaliainternational system (the modern international system), Islamicinternational system, and Tribal system. The 1648 Westphalia

international system mainly works on the relations with the countriesoutside the Middle East; the Islamic international system works for therelations with Islamic countries; and the Tribal system is mainly for therelationship between the tribal areas and other countries. South KoreanMiddle East diplomacy has dealt better with the relationships amongall levels of government, religious leader, tribal elders, and greatlydeveloped its local diplomacy as well as religious and culturaldiplomacy. Early in 1999, South Korea had already established theGovernors Association of Korea (GAOK), whose tasks included:

assisting local governments to promote the decentralization of local

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governments, supporting policy research and the internationalization oflocal governments, which includes promoting Korea overseas trainingof local civil servants and foreign civil servants trained in South Korea.32

Islam has also played an active role in the South Korean MiddleEast diplomacy. It has achieved results that are more significant suchthat Islamic groups in South Korea are actively involved in economicand international contribution diplomacy, as well as the rescuediplomacy.33 South Koreas local diplomacy as well as religious andcultural diplomacy composited the background and framework of itsdiplomatic relations with the UAE. As part of the cultural exchangeprogram between the two countries, the Gyeonggi Provincial DanceCompany of Koreas cultural performance, titled Movements andRhythms of Korea was held in Dubais Zayed University ConventionCentre in June 2010. The performance marked the 30th anniversary ofdiplomatic ties between the UAE and South Korea. The UAE alsosends delegations to perform during cultural events in Korea, as part ofthe cultural exchange programs between the two countries. The mostrecent one was held on May 5, 2010 in Sinjeju, where a UAEdelegation held a cultural performance during the third annual ArabCultural Festival hosted by the Korean-Arab Society.34 This is theintegration model of local and religious/ cultural diplomacy.

Conclusion

Although South Korea and the UAE have not clearly definedtheir strategic partnership that they had established from the coveredareas and motivation, the core of the partnership is obviously to

develop civil economic cooperation, taking civilian nuclear energy

32 GAOK, Supporting Foreign Affairs of Local Governments. Retrieved November7, 2011, from http://www.gaok.or.kr/eng/e02_act/act040.jsp (Access date: 25 March 2012).33 Niu Song, Islam and South Koreas Middle East Diplomacy,Arab World Studies,Vol. 29, No. 3, May 2010.34 Mohammad Al Jashi, Cultural Ties Help to Bind Links between UAE and SouthKorea, Gulf News, October 16, 2010.

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cooperation as the leading aspect, and taking into account the oil andgas area, and extended to military areas through military exchanges,equipment introduction and jointly fighting measures on piracy. Itslong-term goals also include cultural and health care fields. Thestrategic partnership between South Korea and the UAE is animportant part of the South Korean Middle East strategy and theUnited Arab Emirates Looking Eastward policy. Since itsestablishment in December 2009, the strategic partnership has

experienced only three years, but the two countries have had more thana 30-year relationship. South Korea released the situation of nuclearpower plant exporting and sending troops to the non-war-torn areas inthe UAE.

The UAE started transition to the post fossil power-era andsecurity sources diversification by South Korea. The most critical dutyof the two countries is to implement relevant signed agreements topromote further development between the regions. The establishmentof the strategic partnership reflects the motivation of South Korea,which strives to be a leader in cooperation between East Asia and theMiddle East. During the international financial crisis and the ArabSpring, South Korea, with high-speed economic development andWestern-style democracy has the comprehensive advantage; sincethere is Middle Eastern fear towards China, Japan, and other majorcountries within East Asia, South Korea also plays a unique role in thecoordination of international relations as an emerging small country.To put it simply, the relationship between South Korea and the UAE isa strong competitor towards Chinas Middle East diplomacy,especially for the Gulf region. Besides developing the relationship withthe Middle East oil-producing countries like the UAE, China needs tostrengthen the coordination with major forces in East Asia such asSouth Korea, Japan and ASEAN to avoid fierce competition in order tomaintain and preserve lasting peace and common development.

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ZET

Kore Savann ardndan uluslararas konumundaki ve dpolitikasndaki deiimler Gney Kore iin Orta Dou lkeleri ilediplomatik iliki kapsn aralad. Gney Korenin blge lkeleri ilekurduu ilikiler sadece diplomatik boyutta kalmayarak zamanierisinde asker, iktisadi ve sivil unsurlar da kapsayacak ekildegeniledi. Gney Korenin Orta Dou corafyasna yaklamnda G20,

OECD, Kresel Yeil Byme Enstits (GGGI) ve Orta Dou Birlii Forumu (KMECF) gibi at kurulularn yan sra blgenin dinve kltrel yapsyla kurduu balar etkili oldu. Gney Kore, petrol vegaz gelitiricilii ile nkleer santral inas gibi ekonomik alanlarda darol almaya balad. Son olarak Somalili korsanlara kar yrtlenmcadelede aktif rol oynamas ilikilerin gvenlik ve terrle mcadeleboyutunda da nemli bir unsur olarak ortaya kmtr. Gney Koreninblge ile ilikilerini gelitirme abalar ABDnin blge zerindekibasks ve hkim rol dnldnde glgede kalm olsa da Birleik

Arap Emirlikleri (BAE), Suudi Arabistann blgedeki kontrolnsonlandrmak ve gvenlik gereksinimleri asndan ABDye olanbamll azaltmak iin Gney Kore ile i birliine ynelmitir.Gney Kore de ABDnin gzetimi olmakszn ilk kez bir i birliiierisine girmitir. Bu i birlii nkleer santral projeleri, petrol ve gazgelitiricilii ve Dou Asyadaki petrol rezervlerini kapsamaktadr.Daha sonra asker alanlar da i birliine dhil edilmi ve Gney KoreBAEye Somalili korsanlarla mcadele ve eitim amal olarak askergndermitir.

BAEnin ABD ile olan yakn ilikileri sayesinde nkleer santralplanlar uluslararas kamuoyunun tepkisinin nlenmesini ve rannnkleer faaliyetlerinden ayr tutulmasn salayabilir. Ancak yine deBAEnin ift kullanml teknolojiler iin sk bir ihracat kontrol rejimiuygulayp uygulamayaca ve bu kapsamda nitelikli i gcne sahipolup olmad uluslararas kamuoyunun endie ettii konular arasndayer almaktadr. Bu sre ierisinde Gney Koreli irketlerden oluanbir konsorsiyum BAEde nkleer santral yapm ihalesini kazanaraknkleer santral iin en nemli unsur olan reaktr yapm iine

balamtr. Bunun zerine iki lke yneticileri de bu anlamann

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lkeler aras ilikileri gelitirmede balang olduuna ynelikdncelerini aklam ve bu i birliinin uzun sreli ortakladneceine ilikin beklentilerini paylamlardr. Gney Kore ayrcaBAEden gelen rencilere ve teknik personele nkleer enerjikonusunda eitim verme roln de stlenmitir.

Nkleer santral yapmnn yan sra BAE, ikinci en byk petrolithalats konumunda olan Gney Kore ile petrol gelitiricilii vesevkiyatna ilikin anlamalara da imza atmtr. Gney Kore hracat-thalat Bankasnn BAEye nkleer inaat iin verdii otuz yl geridemeli kredi Gney Korede muhaliflerin tepkisine neden olsa da budurum Gney Korenin BAEdeki projelerine ne kadar nem atfettiinide gstermektedir. BAEnin 2009 ylnda Kuzey Koreden ranagnderilen yasa d silah ykl gemilere mdahalede bulunmasylabalayan sre ran ve Kuzey Korenin uluslararas kamuoyununtepkisini eken nkleer faaliyetleri de dnldnde uluslararaskamuoyunun endiesinin bir kat daha artmasna neden olmutur.Gney Kore ile ran arasnda bir husumet bulunmamasna karnKuzey Kore ile Gney Kore arasndaki anlamazlk dnldnde,BAE iin Gney Koreden silah tedariki en mantkl yol olarak ortayakmtr. Bunun sonucunda iki lke arasnda 560.000 ABD dolartutarnda silah anlamas imzalanmtr bu anlama ile BAE, GneyKorenin ilk yabanc silah ithalats olmutur.

Silah anlamasnn yan sra Gney Kore tarafndan BAEyestratejik ortaklk kapsamnda bar ortamnda eitim faaliyetleri iinasker gnderilmesi iin iki lke arasnda mutabakata varlmtr.

Somalili korsanlarn Gney Kore gemisine saldrmas ve aralarndaGney Korelilerin de olduu gemi personelini rehin almas srecindeGney Kore ile BAE arasnda rehine kurtarma operasyonu vekorsanlarn Gney Koreye gnderilmesi srecinde gerekleen ikilkenin ortak harekt ikili ilikileri daha da perinlemitir.

BAE, Tunus ve Msrda hkmet deiikliklerine neden olan vedier blge lkelerine de yaylan ve hkmet kart gsterilerin younolarak grld, kamuoyunda Arap Bahar olarak adlandrlansreten uygulamaya koyduu refah politikalar ve gelir dalmndaki

eitsizlii gidermeye ynelik almalar sayesinde ciddi oranda

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etkilenmemitir. Bu srete BAEde ciddi bir atma ya da hkmetkart gsteriler yaanmamtr. Libyadaki i savata BAE ve GneyKorenin ortak tutumu ikili ilikilere olumlu etki etmitir. yle kiLibyadaki sivillerin boaltlmasnda Abu Dabi liman Gney Koretarafndan gnderilen asker birimlerin geici dura ve ikmal noktasolarak kullanlmtr.

Gney Kore ve BAE arasnda diplomatik ilikilerin kurulduu1980 ylndan itibaren iki lke arasndaki ilikiler ivme kazanarakdevam etmitir. Nkleer santral yapm iiyle birlikte de ikili ilikilerstratejik ortaklk boyutuna dnmtr. Bu ortaklk Arapdnyasnn Douya Bak politikasyla da paralellik gstermektedir.Her ne kadar Krfez Arap lkeleri birlii Konseyi ierisinde SuudiArabistann baat bir rol olsa da Birleik Arap Emirlikleri de konseyierisinde inovasyon merkezi ve nc lke olmas bakmndanyadsnamaz bir role sahiptir. Blgesel lekte ekonominin merkeziolmasnn yan sra kresel lekte de ekonomik yeniden yaplanmasayesinde uluslararas piyasann rekabeti yapsna uygun konumdabulunan BAEnin ekonomik gc ve ileri teknolojisi dednldnde Douya Bak politikas kapsamnda Gney Koreen mantkl ortak olarak ne kmaktadr. Gney Kore ise sivil nkleerenerji kullanmna ilikin ABD ile mutabakata varmasnn ardndankullanm olduu ileri teknoloji ve salam mali yaps sayesindenkleer santral yapmnda pek ok Batl lkeyi geride brakmtr.Gney Korenin Orta Douya ynelik baarl giriimleri ve ilikilerinfarkl alardan gelitirilmesine ynelik abalar nedeniyle de BAEblge ierisindeki tm bu zelliklerinden dolay ok nemli bir yertutmaktadr.

Sonu olarak, iki lke arasndaki ortaklk Gney Korenin OrtaDou politikasnn ve BAEnin Douya Bak politikasnn nemlibir parasdr. ki lke arasndaki stratejik ortaklk ok yakn gemiedayansa da ksa sre ierisinde ok fazla yol alnmtr. Uluslararasfinans krizi ve Arap Bahar sresince hzl ekonomik bymesi ve Battarz demokratik yapsyla ne kan Gney Kore, Orta Doululkelerin Dou Asyadaki in, Japonya ve dier byk lkelere

ynelik ekinceleri de dnldnde nispeten kk bir lke olmas

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dolaysyla da ne kmaktadr. Daha ak bir ifadeyle Gney Kore veBAE arasndaki iliki inin Orta Dou politikalarna ciddi bir rakipolarak gzkmektedir.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

REHMAN A.,Dubai & Co.: Global Strategies for Doing Business inthe Gulf States, Translated by Hu Weishan, Oriental Publisher,Beijing, 2009.

Papers

DEGANG Sun and HAIPENG Deng, Analysis of the Adjustment ofthe US Military Bases in Gulf Region, Contemporary InternationalRelations Vol. 31, No. 5, May 2010.

HUIHOU An, Analysis of Arab States Looking Eastward Policy,

Arab World Studies, Vol. 30, No. 1, January 2011.KIRK Danald, South Korea Delivers Setback to Somalia Pirates, anda Warning to North Korea, Christian Science Monitor, January 21, 2011.

SONG Niu, Influence of Iranian factor on Relationship betweenIsraeli and Countries in Gulf Cooperation Council,Forum of WorldEconomics & Politics, Vol. 30, No. 2, April 2010.

SONG Niu, Islam and South Koreas Middle East Diplomacy, ArabWorld Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3, May 2010

XIAOMEI Che and MING Niu, Energy Development and EcologicalEnvironmental Protection in Abu Dhabi, Arab World Studies, Vol.28, No. 6, November 2009.

Dailies and Periodicals

AL JASHI Mohammad, Cultural Ties Help to Bind Links betweenUAE and South Korea, Gulf News, October 16, 2010.

BARDSLEY Daniel, South Korea Elite Forces Arrive in UAE, TheNational, January 12, 2011.

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BURKLI Danny, UAE to be the First Arab State to Use CivilianNuclear Power,Hrriyet Daily News, March 7, 2011.

CHI-DONG Lee, Lee Says S. Korean Troops in UAE Crucial forBilateral Ties, Yonhap News, March 13, 2011.

DAYA Ayesha, South Korea Plans to Lend $ 10 Billion for U.A.E.Nuclear Plants,Bloomberg, October 7, 2010.

Deployment of South Korea Akh Unit to UAE,KBS, January 12, 2011.

DOYLE Gerry, S. Korea Leader Upbeat on Ties, The National,March 13, 2011.

GALE Ivan, UAE Buys Rifles from South Korea, The National,May 27, 2010.

GUNG-UK Nam, Cheong Wa Dae Explains Actively with Its Aims toSend Troops to UAE,Jungang Ilbo (Chinese edition), August 6, 2010.

HYUN-CHEOL Choi, UAE Chooses to Build Its Northeast Asian OilReserve Bases in South Korea, Jungang Ilbo (Chinese edition),

August 3, 2010.JAE-WON Kim, Eximbank to Aid Export of Nuclear Power Plant,Korea Times, February 9, 2010.

JEONG-JU Na, Lee Pledges to Ensure Safety of UAE NuclearPlants,Korea Times, March 14, 2011.

Korea Signs Major Oil Deal with UAE, Chosun Ilbo, March 14, 2011.

KWANG-SIK Nam, KEPCO to Offer 2 Nuclear Power Simulators toUAE, Yonhap News, March 15, 2011.

Mohammad Attends Launch of UAE-Korea Council, Gulf News,March 28, 2010.

Nuclear Power Plant Exports Boost Korea Inc., Korea Times,February 21, 2011.

RAMAVARMAN T., Doosan Wins UAEs N-power Contract,Khaleej Times, July 3, 2010.

SANG-HO Song, JCS Chairman Visits Overseas S. Korea Troops,Korea Herald, April 28, 2011.

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S. Korea, UAE Agree to Bust Anti-piracy Efforts, Yonhap News,February 7, 2011.

SU-JIN Kim, It is President Lees Idea to Escort Pirates with UAERoyal Plane,Jungang Ilbo (Chinese edition), January 31, 2011.

TAE-GYU Kim, Korea-UAE Nuclear Tie-up Strengthened, KoreaTimes, August 12, 2010.

UAE Seizes N Korea Arms Cargo,BBC News, August 28, 2009.

UAE Stable Despite Regional Turmoil,Reuters, March 8, 2011.YONG-SU Jeong, South Korea Army Special Warfare CommandWill Dispatch 130 Soldiers to UAE, Jungang Ilbo (Chinese edition),December 13, 2010.

Internet

GAOK, Supporting Foreign Affairs of Local Governments.Retrieved November 7, 2011, from http://www.gaok.or.kr/eng/e02_act/act040.jsp (Access date: 25 March 2012).

Samsung Engineering Signs UAE Shah Gas Projecthttp://www.samsungengineering.co.kr/eng/company/PressReleasesView.jsp?onPage=1&tb2_seq=303&category=14 (Access date:23 March 2012).

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